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Wednesday, March 01, 2006

What’s RM4 Billion Compared with PETRONAS’ Accumulated Wealth?

The PM has promised that every sen of the RM4 billion saved from fuel subsidies would be used for the people’s benefit in the form of improvements to public transport systems.

I agree with the logic that Malaysians must come to terms with higher oil prices and not too long now all our motor cars will go the way of dinosaurs.It will become more a status symbol than a means of transport.

Let us hope that public tenders will be called when the public transport is improved or perhaps transport vouchers will be given to the poor based on a means test.

How is the RM4b going to be allocated? Perhaps a cheap bus network operated by the local town councils in the main cities like Penang, Ipoh, Malacca, KL, PJ, JB, Kuching, Kuantan and Kota Kimabalu?Those who went to Australia on study tours should have observed that Adelaide operates a free transport loop around the city center.

Since the PM has decided that RM4b is a worthwhile sum to be reduced from the fuel subsidy, it is also time for the government to be more transparent about how PETRONAS operates. At the moment, only the PM knows all the wheeling and dealing that goes on in that company.

What bothers me is that by keeping secrets, wrongdoing by the company is not corrected and since such vast sums of monies are involved, we should not place such temptations in front of so few. After all, every one is human as can be seen in the millions that the government secretly paid to get invited to tea with George Bush.

If you watch the movie Fahrenheit 911, you will realise that the Saudis would have been more helpful than paying for crooks. When accounts are kept secret, it may indicate that the company may be involved in widespread bribery to get concessions and also unknowingly financing terrorist movements. That may prove a fatal oversight by the company if it should become the target of US militarism.

Even without the worse case scenario, don’t you think it is quite absurd for PETRONAS not to be reporting to Parliament so that all Malaysians will know that this national asset is not being wasted on wanton extravaganza and even criminal activities?

We simply cannot allow an elected government to withhold a basic accounting for something that can secure our nation’s security and prosperity.